Trade As Turkey’s EU Anchor

Having reached in 2017 a dead end on Turkey’s path of EU accession for the time being, Ankara and Brussels have instead invested their hopes in an upgraded Customs Union. Revamping this trade arrangement would unlock numerous economic benefits for both sides by further liberalising trade between Turkey and the EU.

Yet this initiative was now under threat as a group of EU members led by Germany have formally opposed any new trade deal with Turkey. The author argued that these countries should reconsider their position, because blocking the renewal of this trade deal would all but eliminate the most feasible means of encouraging rules-based governance in Ankara and maintaining EU engagement with Turkey.

• Primary Source

EPC: Policy Brief, 02.10.17: Turkey's relations with Germany and the EU: Breaking the vicious circle http://aei.pitt.edu/91410/1/pub_7973_turkey%2Dgermany%2Deu.pdf

Twenty years of the EU-Turkey customs union: a synthetic control method analysis (JCMS, Vol.55, No.3, May 2017, p419-431) http://www.europeansources.info/record/twenty-years-of-the-eu-turkey-customs-union-a-synthetic-control-method-analysis/

European Parliament: European Parliamentary Research Service: Briefing: International Agreements in Progress, March 2017: Reinvigorating EU-Turkey bilateral trade: Upgrading the customs union http://www.europeansources.info/record/reinvigorating-eu-turkey-bilateral-trade-upgrading-the-customs-union/

Hürriyet Daily News, 31.08.17: Merkel conveys Germany’s veto on Customs Union update with Turkey to Juncker http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/merkel-conveys-germanys-veto-on-customs-union-update-with-turkey-to-juncker-117422

European Commission: DG Trade: Policy: Countries and Regions: Turkey http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/turkey/

European Commission: Study of the EU-Turkey Bilateral Preferential Trade Framework, Including the Customs Union, and an Assessment of Its Possible Enhancement. Final report, October 2016 http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2017/january/tradoc_155240.pdf

The Brookings Institution: Blog, 29.08.17: Order from chaos. The EU and Turkey need each other. Could upgrading the customs union be the key? https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2017/08/29/the-eu-and-turkey-need-each-other-could-upgrading-the-customs-union-be-the-key/

ECFR: Commentary, 18.01.18: Ankara’s EU charm offensive http://www.ecfr.eu/article/commentary_ankaras_eu_charm_offensive

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